Giga-corporation

A giga-corporation, often called a gigacorp, is an immense privately-owned commercial entity that operates not only on a planetary scale but also across the broader Solar Cluster, controlling large portions of one or more key markets. These corporations have grown to become the most powerful and influential institutions in Vexian society, often overshadowing the former nation-states and governmental structures. With their enormous financial and infrastructural resources, gigacorps are central to the operation of Vex’s economy, pseudo-political landscape, and the daily lives of its inhabitants.

Gigacorps gave birth to the concept of hypercapitalism, the operating ethos of the Post-Sovereign Economic Phase (PSEP).

Gigacorps are the dominant power structures of Vex — privatized entities that superseded governments, nations, and legacy institutions. Each gigacorp operates independently, enforcing its own legal architecture while adhering to the planetary standard of Universal Contract Law (UCL).

UCL compliance ensures trust, enforceability, and accountability across the decentralized economic landscape. Corporate formation is a rigorous process, often requiring up to a year of legal onboarding. Contractual breaches are met with systemic penalties classified under Malignant Corporate Conduct; consequences can be severe.

Characteristics of a GigaCorp

Gigacorps are vast, privatized power structures that dominate nearly every function of post-sovereign life on Vex. Though each gigacorp governs its own legal frameworks, all corporate entities are bound by Universal Contract Law (UCL), a planet-wide enforcement standard ensuring transactional trust and legal continuity in a decentralized world. As the planet’s major commercial entities, they have far-reaching influence in shaping Vexian society’s infrastructure, from urban development to technological advancements.

Due to the necessity of free trade and trustworthy transactions, all corporations, regardless of size, agree to follow the Universal Contract Law (UCL). Despite the abolishment of old-world nation-states, the enforcement of the Universal Contract Law is an intra-planetary standard. Corporate directors of all sorts must adhere to the UCL. It is also why brand new corporations can take up to 1 year of education to open depending on the region. Failing to honor contracts in accordance with the UCL can result in severe consequences against the offender.

GigaCorp Variation

See also: GigaCorp Variations

There are many known variations on the concept of the gigacorp. The most notable and well known is the milcorp. A milcorp is known to own and operate private military personnel and assets.

Another well known variation is the bancorp. While the nomenclature may be outdated, as banking is considered an obsolete Sovereign Phase practice, a bancorp owns and operates infrastructure related to the Consolidated Asset Grid (CAG). Typically, a bancorp is a premier lender of CU, among other proprietary functions or corporate organizational structures.

A devcorp is a gigacorp primarily involved in infrastructure or property development on a massive scale.

There are no official distinctions of what makes up a gigacorp variation other than the structure and wording of the gigacorp's Corporate Charter.